


You Will Remember Me

by from_scarlet_to_pink



Series: Kingsman Advent Calendar '17 [17]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Advent Calendar, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 03:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13138068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/from_scarlet_to_pink/pseuds/from_scarlet_to_pink
Summary: During the 24 hours after the train test, Eggsy finds an old photo of Merlin and Harry, from before their time at Kingsman.This is the story of how Harry met Merlin.





	You Will Remember Me

**Author's Note:**

> working from [this](http://from-scarlet-to-pink.tumblr.com/post/168094448114/verobird-christmas-prompts-some-i-made-up) list of prompts for an advent-calendar
> 
> DEC 17: I was dressed up as an elf, because of my job. You’re drunk and think I actually know Santa
> 
> (late addition)

Martinis in hand, Harry and Eggsy walked into the sitting room. Harry sat down on the sofa, while the younger man walked around, inspecting the bookshelves, and the music collection.

On one of the shelves he saw a couple of picture frames. Some showed Harry with an older woman, who was likely his mother, others were of a little boy, barely even Daisy’s age. One picture was of two little boys, twins, and even if the picture was at least forty years old, Eggsy would still recognise Harry anywhere. He meant to turn and ask Harry about his brother, when he spotted another frame in the back behind some others. He reached for it, and almost dropped his glass when he recognised the person standing next to Harry in the photo.

“Oh my God. That’s Merlin. That’s Merlin with hair!” He walked to the sofa, and sat down next to Harry. “When was this? Was this when you were both new to Kingsman?”

Harry took the frame from the younger man, looking fondly at the picture. He and Merlin were standing on a lawn in front of an old building, a campus. “No, that was before that.”

“You’ve known each other before Kingsman? Did you go to uni together?”

“Not quite. We actually met in America. He was studying there, and I took a semester abroad. We met quite randomly, to tell you the truth.”

“How did it happen?”

Harry put the photo on the side table, and turned towards Eggsy, telling him the story.

\------

Ian hated a lot of things about living in the States. The people were either overly friendly or treated you like crap – there didn’t seem to be an in between, the food was too greasy, or too sweet – or sometimes both, and what the people here had done to the English language would better remain unlisted. And yes, he was Scottish, but there were limits to acceptable adaptation of language, or there should be, in his opinion.

Still, MIT had the best Computer Sciences programme suited to his abilities, so he’d have to make do for another year or so. Uni itself was everything Ian had expected, and he had even made some friends early on in the year.

Unfortunately, one of those friends had a certain ability to get people into trouble, either himself or others. It was because of him that Ian was at a mall, dressed in complete elf-gear, spending the entire day asking children if they wanted to sit in Santa’s lap. 

Logan had bet him that he couldn’t crack a code he had written in less than five minutes - the loser would have to work at Santa’s Village at the local mall for three Saturdays. Logan's father was the manager of the mall, so getting the job wouldn’t be a problem.

Ian had lost the bet – by thirty-eight seconds. He might have managed it in time, had Logan not liquored him up beforehand, taunting him with words, of how every Scot should be able to hold his whisky without letting it affect him. 

Either way, he had lost the bet, and was now repaying his debt of honour. Even if it slowly killed him inside. 

\------

The mall closed at nine, and after getting something to eat with the other elves, Merlin decided to walk home instead of taking the bus. It was fairly warm – especially considering the weather he was used to in Scotland – and it hadn’t rained for the first time in a week.

On his way back to his dorm he walked past a pub, one of many in the Boston area, and this one was favourite among the Harvard crowd. Just as he was going around the corner, a man came stumbling towards him. He was about Ian’s age, with brown hair, and started speaking.

“Why, hello there. Are you working for Father Christmas, are you?” The man started laughing at his own joke. Ian was annoyed, and just wanted to get home, but he hadn’t spoken to anyone with a British accent in a long time, and he had to admit that the other man was rather handsome.

“I do, actually. Every Saturday until the 17th.”

“Oh, that’s nice. I should come by, ask him why he decided to get Mark the bicycle he wanted, but I didn’t get the microscope I wanted. Stupid fat man.” He swayed a little, but remained standing.

“Right. Well. Sorry about that.” Ian didn’t know what else to say to the man, but the other didn’t seem to mind, smiling at him.

“You’re cute. All dressed in green. Why are you all dressed in green? Is it because Santa is now dressed in red? For the contrast? Or to mess with people who are red green colourblind?”

Ian had to laugh at that. It had been a while since he had laughed so easily with a stranger, and he quite enjoyed it.

“Do you…” The other man came closer towards him. “Do you have pointy ears?”

“I don’t, no.”

“Shame. Can I check?” He came even closer, standing right in front of Ian, their upper bodies almost touching. 

Ian waited until the brunet leaned back again, his face flushed.

“Huh. Shame, I’d have thought – ” That’s as far as he got before throwing up on Merlin’s costume shoes.

\------

Eggsy laughed, throwing his head back, and almost spilling his drink onto the sofa. “Oh my God, Harry, tell me you didn’t.”

“Know this: a gentleman never drinks more than he can handle.”

“What happened next?”

“I went to apologise to him the next day. One of my friends recognised him, and knew that he attended MIT, so I went to their campus, asking around, until I found him.” He took a sip of his drink. “He wasn’t initially keen to speak to me. But eventually I annoyed him into forgiving me. I find that this tactic works to this day.” He smiled, and Eggsy laughed. “I invited him to dinner, to make up for my behaviour, and we found that we rather enjoyed each other’s company. We stayed in touch after I went back to England at the end of the semester, and after I’d joined Kingsman, I proposed him as my candidate.”

“Merlin went through training?” Eggsy was surprised to hear it. He had believed that Merlin, and all the tech staff, really, were trained in their field only. 

“He did. Almost made it to the table. Failed the last test, though. Merlin, the old Merlin, took him in, groomed him to be his replacement. But don’t ever make the mistake that Merlin is anything other than lethal. He could kick your arse from here to Toronto, and not even break a sweat.” Harry drank the last of his Martini, and stood up. “Now, come show me if you remember how to make a proper Martini.”


End file.
